Singapore (Reuters) – Gaming firm Genting International said on late Tuesday it would buy sister firm Star Cruises’s 25 percent stake in their joint Singapore casino project for SGD 255 million (USD 168 million).
Genting International said the acquisition of the stake would give it full control of the USD 3.4 billion Singapore casino.

„It would also potentially help to simplify Genting International’s application process for a casino license in due course,“ it added.

Genting International and Star Cruises, both controlled by Malaysia’s Lim family through Kuala Lumpur-listed gaming group Genting Berhad , won in December a bid to build Singapore’s second casino but upset the city-state’s authorities after they unveiled a tie-up with Macau gambling tycoon Stanley Ho a month later.

Genting International later withdrew from the Macau partnership with Ho, although Star Cruises remained in the deal.

Singapore casino regulators have said that their checks on Genting International would continue.

The sum to be paid to Star Cruises comprises of a SGD 175 million reimbursement to the leisure cruise firm for its contribution to the project and a further SGD 80 million for its expenses incurred during the bidding process, Genting said.

The firm said the stake acquisition would be financed through internal resources and external borrowings.